Archibald Acheson, 6th Earl of Gosford
Archibald Alexander John Stanley Acheson, 6th Earl of Gosford, FRSA (14 January 1911 – 17 February 1966, Camberley), styled Viscount Acheson until 1954, was a British Peer. Background and education Archibald Acheson was the elder son of Archibald Acheson, 5th Earl of Gosford by his wife Mildred, daughter of John Ridgely Carter of Baltimore, sometime US Minister to Romania.Patrick Cracroft-Brennan, Gosford, Earl of (I, 1806), Cracroft's Peerage. Accessed 29 December 2011 He was educated at Harrow School, where he was Inter-Public Schools Athletics Champion for the 880 yards in 1929, and Trinity College, Cambridge, gaining an MA. At Cambridge he was a member of the Pitt Club, the Hawks' Club, the Alverstone Club and the Achilles Club. RAF service He was commissioned into the Royal Air Force in 1932 and served as Assistant Air Attaché at the British Embassy in Paris from 1938–40. During the Second World War he commanded 613 Squadron AAF from 1941–42 and later 32 Wing. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1946, and was also awarded the US Bronze Star Medal and made an Officier of the French Legion of Honour. From 1946–48 he was Chief Instructor of the Cambridge University Air Squadron. He retired from the RAF as a Group Captain in 1955. Political office In 1954 Lord Acheson succeeded his father as Earl of Gosford, with a seat in the House of Lords as Baron Worlingham. He joined the Conservative government of Sir Anthony Eden as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Defence in 1956, before becoming Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the succeeding government of Harold Macmillan in 1957. In 1958 he was made a Lord-in-Waiting to the Queen, also serving as assistant to, and spokesman in the Lords for, the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Harold Watkinson. He held this post until 1959. Civilian life Lord Gosford was a Member of Council of the British Olympic Association in 1954. He was Foreign Affairs Adviser to Richard Thomas and Baldwins Ltd from 1960–64, and from 1962 until his death was Chairman of the British Road Federation. He was also Chairman of the British Universities’ Sports Federation, President of the Vocational Guidance Association, Vice-President of the Royal Air Force Association and a member of White's, the St James's Club, the Royal Air Force Club, the Travellers' Club of Paris and the MCC. Family He married (1) Francesca Cagiati, on 13 December 1935, with whom he had the following children: *Lady Francesca Georgiana Caroline Acheson (1940–1991) *Charles David Alexander John Sparrow Acheson, 7th Earl of Gosford (b. 13 July 1942) *Lady Isabella Augusta Acheson (b. 17 January 1950) He married (2) Cynthia West on 21 September 1960 References *GOSFORD, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2007; accessed 29 December 2011 * * http://www.thepeerage.com/p8504.htm External links * Category:1911 births Category:1966 deaths Category:Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting Category:Earls in the Peerage of Ireland Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Category:Royal Air Force officers Category:Recipients of the Bronze Star Medal Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts